The Washington State Department of Financial Institutions (DFI), Securities Division received complaints regarding MMOCoin and ROYCoin. MMOCoin is a purported cryptocurrency exchange, utilizing the website https://www.mmocoin.top and a phone application called MMO-Studio. The MMOCoin exchange is purportedly run by Horizon & Peak Investment Corp., also referred to as World Horizon Alliance and WH Alliance (“WHA”). WHA uses the domain www.world-horizon.com. ROYCoin is a separate exchange that utilizes several phone applications under different names and the website https://web.roycoin.me. ROYCoin is purportedly founded and operated by Seeds for Wealth Alliance, also referred to as SW Alliance (“SWA”), with a domain of https://www.seedsforwealth.com.
The investors in both complaints saw an advertisement on social media and were added to a WhatsApp Group. The investors were later introduced to the cryptocurrency trading platform operated by the “alliance.” WHA told investors to create an account with MMOCoin. SWA told investors to create an account with ROYCoin. The complaints received describe experiences similar to the ongoing Trend of Alleged Cryptocurrency Scams Involving Self Proclaimed “Professors” in WhatsApp Groups. The investors in both WHA and SWA have not been able to withdraw any funds from the purported trading platforms.
WHA and SWA have nearly identical content on their websites. Both entities purport to be a finance academy “alliance” with a team of highly experienced professionals that will teach students about investing, particularly with the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI). WHA refers to the AI technology as “AI ProfitPulse” and SWA refers to it as “AI DataMind.” Both purported AI technology frameworks are associated with a token under the acronym of the company: WHA and SWA. The WHA Token and the SWA Token are listed on CoinMarketCap.com with links to White Papers about their proprietary AI technology. The figures on CoinMarketCap.com appear to be self-reported and not verified. The existence of a token on websites like CoinMarketCap.com is not an indication that it is a legitimate token.
MMOCoin: https://www.mmocoin.top and ROYCoin: https://web.roycoin.me appear to use the same website template. Review of these platforms revealed many other potentially fraudulent websites that are using the same template and content:
- https://web.cyprusauction.com – “CYPRUSAUCTION”
- https://web.surfwin.com – “SURFWIN”
- https://web.qovex.top – “QOVEX”
- https://web.ipxcoin.com and https://ipxcoin.net – “IPXCOIN”
- https://web.databec.com – “DATABEC”
- https://web.phaninc.com
- https://web.winninginfo.com – “Winning Exchange”
- https://web.novacryptpro.com – “Novacrypt”
- https://web.abtcoin.org – “ABTCoin”
- https://web.stormvaults.com – “GHCoin”
- https://coggie.com – “Coggie”
- https://web.bfxcoin.org – “BFXCoin”
- https://toobit-max.com – “TOOBIT-Max”
- https://web.vatradecoin.net – “Vatrade Coin”
- https://web.caucoin.top – “CAUCoin”
- https://cryptifii.com – “CRYPTIFII”
- https://web.coinbeco.net – “COINBECO”
- https://bitfii.com – “BITFII”
- https://web.capvcrypto.com – “CapitalVault”
- https://web.orbitexport.net – “OrbitExport”
- https://ebuey.com – “EBUEY”
- https://coinixiai.com – “Coinixiai”
These allegations have not been verified by DFI.
This appears to be what is commonly called Advance Fee Fraud, which can take many forms. This also appears to be a common fraudulent scheme involving individuals claiming to be “professors” or “schools” use social media, such as WhatsApp, to guide or teach a group of investors on cryptocurrency trading strategies. The purported trading usually occurs on fraudulent trading platforms.
Investment Tips
DFI urges consumers to exercise extreme caution before responding to any solicitation offering investment advice or financial services. Investment professionals need to be licensed with DFI to offer investments to Washington residents. To check the licensing status and to find out if there are any complaints against an investment professional, please visit FINRA Brokercheck. In addition, all investment products sold need to be registered or meet an exemption from registration. To check to see if the investment product is registered or filed a notice of exemption in Washington State, contact the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions, Securities Division at (360) 902-8760. If you live outside of Washington State, contact your state securities regulator.
Impersonation
DFI cautions consumers to beware of persons previously unknown to them offering investment advice, even if they purport to be legitimately licensed investment professionals. Scammers can impersonate investment professionals and offer advice that benefits scammers and is harmful to consumers.
To check the licensing status of an investment professional, please visit FINRA Brokercheck. After confirming that the investment professional is appropriately licensed, attempt to independently verify that you are indeed speaking with the real person. Try contacting the licensed individual using online resources such as Brokercheck or the firm website, rather than through the communication channels they provided to you directly. If you have any doubt about the authenticity of the person soliciting you, contact the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions, Securities Division at (360) 902-8760. If you live outside of Washington State, contact your state securities regulator.
Additional Resources
Virtual Currency, Cryptocurrency, and Digital Assets Information for Consumers
What You Can Do to Avoid Investment Fraud
Information regarding Pump & Dump schemes and how to protect yourself